The train control system designed to prevent Metro crashes is malfunctioning across the railroad, suggesting that a technological failure at the heart of last month's fatal crash may be widespread, according to officials and documents.

At least one-half dozen track circuits on four of the five lines of the transit system have failed to properly detect the presence of trains.

Six circuits have been shut down in addition to the one thought to have caused last month's Red Line crash. Some of them---including 'circuits at Greenbelt on the Green Line, Grosvenor on the Red Line and Foggy Bottom on the Orange/Blue line'---have been shut off, meaning trains can only pass through them one at a time, at 15 mph.

And double whoa:

[D]ocuments show that Metro technicians have detected malfunctions since at least July 11. Metro General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. said publicly as recently as July 16 that the agency has inspected all 3,000 circuits and not noted any problems.

The site actually includes a bunch of pretty good information about the crash---information that might be taken as somewhat incriminating, anyway. That the train operator 'had been on the job for four months'; that the National Transportation Safety Board 'warned twice that trains like the ones involved in Monday's wreck may be dangerous to passengers'; and that 'D.C.'s mayor said the blame for the crash should fall "squarely" on local officials.'

LL called the number on the site. He didn't reach a lawyer, but rather Jared Reagan, proprietor of an outfit called Lawyer Marketing Solution.

He says he's working with a group of 38 lawyers from across the Eastern Seaboard---from D.C., Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, to name a few. He declined to share their identities: "I don't know how to pronounce the last names," he said.

He may not know pronunciation, but Reagan, who lives in California, does know a thing or two about rustling up victims of a mass casualty incident: He says he last worked on the L.A. Metrolink crash that killed 25 last September. There's money is creating these Web sites, and selling them through Google ads: "The cost per click for train accident lawyers is really high," Reagan says---but don't accuse him of cashing in here: "This is a huge case. We really do want to help these victims."

Web sites like these have become a main way for trial lawyers to find clients in the aftermath of such an event. Ethical rules bar lawyers from actual "ambulance chasing" or directly contacting victims, so they are forced to find ways to get the victims to contact them.

Google ads have become a mainstay of that strategy, and it's a lucrative one: Says Reagan, "This is the only marketing I do---it's the highest cost per click online. What else can you do, a young guy like me? I don't want to do porn [sites]."

Reagan says that he recently stopped advertising dcmetrocrash.com; he's moved to metrotrainaccident.com, which he thought would have better search engine visibility.

The old one, it turns out, had pretty decent visibility: One tweeter, unsuckdcmetro, reports that the Google ads are running on the WMATA Web site.

"I don't know if power has been cut off...I have a serious head injury."

There are no time stamps so it's hard to tell how long it took for the firefighters to report that the crash involved two trains, that it was above ground, that it was very serious. There are several calls before the mass casualty units are requested.

(Via the amazing STATter 911)

Video of the response after the jump.

Here's video:

WUSA Reporter Dave Statter notes that most of the injuries came from the older metro train car.

"They have been getting hate-filled telephone messages about whether or not Fernandez, a mother of six, was a legal immigrant.

Her family gathered outside her Hyattsville apartment Wednesday. A crying woman who identified herself as Ana's sister said the accusations aren't true.

'Right now, the whole family is in pain. She was here legally, and all her children are legal. They were born here.'

She says she's grateful for the genuine expressions of sympathy, but has a message for the people who have been making the harassing calls.

'We all work, OK? And we're going to get through this.'"

WTOP reporter Kate Ryan writes in to Loose Lips with more details of the hate calls:

"Ana Fernandez' family tells me specifically that the calls accuse them of 'using the crash' to gain legal status for Ana. Again, the woman identifying herself as Ana's sister (and Ana's daughter Evelyn) tell me that not only was Ana legal, but that all six kids were born here."

Fernandez's family had been the focus of a lot of official sympathy. Yesterday, Councilmember Jim Graham, who is the chairman of the Metro Board, said he had her family in mind when he pushed for a $250,000 emergency relief fund.

(Via DCist)

Hey, Metro rider!

By now, in the wake of Monday's collision, you've heard plenty about the different types of Metro cars---specifically how the oldest '1000-series' cars were judged by the NTSB years ago to offer substandard levels of protection in a crash.

So maybe you're thinking that you should avoid these cars. But how?

Very simple: At the front and back of each car, underneath the operator's window, there is a plate with a four-digit figure. That would be your car number. If the digit starts with a '1,' that's a 1000-series car.

Perhaps, under your personal risk calculus, you'd prefer to find another car---or at least one not on the ends of the train. (Two cars of the same series always stay together in 'married pairs,' but trains can consist of two to four pairs of different types.)

There were originally 300 cars of the 1000-type, numbered 1000 to 1299. 290 are still in service, Wikipedia notes. The exceptions:

Car 1028, separated from its mate after it was destroyed during the Federal Triangle derailment in 1982, has become the feeler car that checks system clearances. Four cars, now numbered 8000-8003, serve as the money train to collect the revenue from station farecard machines. 1076 is also permanently out of service after its mate was destroyed in the 2004 accident at Woodley Park–Zoo/Adams Morgan station. 1079 was the lead car on the second train involved in the 2009 Washington Metro accident.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---Washington City Paper's continuing coverage of the Red Line collision

Morning all. In WaPo's A Section today, amid all the second-day stories on the horrific Metro collision, Nikita Stewart examines questions about Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's performance as the face of the government response to the tragedy, reporting that 'his performance during the past two days rubbed already raw nerves, causing friction between Metro and city officials' and that it 'drew complaints behind the scenes about his controlling behavior in the 24 hours after the crash.' Check on-the-record Metro grumblings ('The spirit of cooperation is not what we would like it to be') and off-the-record Metro grumblings, over his decision to not report confirmed fatalities at a morning presser. Says ex-mayoral press aide Tony Bullock, 'It indicates that we're not really on top of it if we can't count to nine.' WCP's Jason Cherkis looks more closely at the death toll figure.

LL SAYS---Fenty was absolutely right to take charge at the post-accident press events; it happened in the District of Columbia, and his employees were the first responders to the crash. Once in front of the cameras, he did a decent job, even exiting his usual robot-speak for a moment or two. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin---save for his habit of lapsing into firefighter jargon---did an even better job. WHAT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT COOL is silencing people with good information in the time when good information is needed. LL was driving up North Capitol Street at about 5:45 Monday, listening to FEMS PIO Alan Etter giving updates on WTOP. When LL got to the scene just before 6, he couldn't find Etter or any other city, federal, or Metro spokesperson to give answers to basic questions until a 7:10 news conference. In a disaster, 75 minutes or more without official information is simply an eternity, a void that will be filled by the sorts of unconfirmed reports the shutdown strategy is ostensibly trying to prevent.

AFTER THE JUMP---Fenty says 'lives are more important than finances'; Metro's Orwellian 'mechanical difficulties'; DCPS "scrubs" gay-themed books from reading lists; and the de facto vacant property tax cut.

THE SECOND DAY STORIES

---FENTY ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA TODAY: '"We do have an independent train system...[but] let's not try and disperse the blame. Let's put it on the decision makers and the leaders," Fenty said, referring to both city and state officials. Fenty said that while replacing or retrofitting the cars "to make them more crash resistant" would have been expensive, "lives are more important than finances."'

---THE INVESTIGATION: WaPo ledes with news that the train's emergency brakes had been engaged by operator Jeanice McMillan, that the brakes were two months overdue for service, and that the train had been operating in automatic mode. 'Taken together, experts say these facts point to several possible scenarios: The operator activated the brakes too late; the computers that are supposed to stop a train from getting too close to another train faltered; the train's brakes failed; or some combination of those. Some passengers on the striking train have said that they never felt the train slow down.' Also Examiner lede, WaTimes on brake questions, WTOP on 'sight distance' tests, NC8 lede, WRC-TV lede, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV, NYT, PBS NewsHour.

---SAFETY QUESTIONS: Examiner highlights NTSB safety recommendations on 1000-series cars. From the WaPo lede: 'Graham said replacing the cars would cost almost $1 billion, money that Metro does not have. Metro is the only major transit system in the country without a source of dedicated funds. The agency appeals every year to the District, Virginia and Maryland for funding, a situation that makes long-term planning difficult.' Also WaTimes, WAMU-FM, WRC-TV, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV, Bloomberg, McClatchy, USA Today, WSJ. And Dr. Gridlock notes: 'Those cars do need to be replaced. They're approaching the end of their useful lives, and it would make no sense to fix them again. But at the moment, we have no idea whether the age of the 1000 Series had anything to do with the cause of the accident or its consequences for those aboard.'

---THE VICTIMS: 'Among the dead was retired Maj. Gen. David F. Wherley Jr. of Washington, a man whose career put him in far more dangerous situations than an evening commute aboard public transit,' WaPo reports. 'Wherley, a command pilot who logged more than 5,000 hours in military aircraft, gave the order to scramble planes over Washington on Sept. 11, 2001. Wherley, 62, who later became the commanding general of the D.C. National Guard, was lauded for the educational programs he helped create for high school dropouts.' Also identified is his wife, Ann, of Capitol Hill (WTOP, WTTG-TV); Ana Fernandez, 40, of Hyattsville---mother of six (WTOP profile); LaVonda "Nikki" King, 23, of Northeast (WTOP profile); Veronica DuBose, 29, of the District (WTOP profile); Dennis Hawkins, 64, of the District---a Whittier Education Center employee (WTOP profile); Mary "Mandy" Doolittle, 59, of the District (WTOP profile); and Cameron Williams, 37, of Takoma Park---a graduate of Coolidge HS. See very good Examiner profiles, WaTimes, CNN, WRC-TV, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV, AP.

---THE OPERATOR: Jeanice McMillan, WaPo reports, 'was so dedicated to her job that she regularly worked overtime. After she gave up her car, she would sometimes sleep at the administration's building in Brentwood, take a train home to Springfield and then hop a bus back to work. She so looked forward to her shifts that McMillan would meticulously press her Metro uniform the night before and would glow when talking about her interactions with passengers.' McMillan came to D.C. from Buffalo more than a decade ago, working as a letter carrier for years before joining Metro as a bus driver in 2007. She started driving trains in December. 'Friends and family said she thrived on the camaraderie of driving a Metro train.' Also WTOP, WUSA-TV.

---THE SEARCH: 'A half-hour after a Metro train had slammed into another, when no one was sure who was alive and who was dead, a stunned silence settled over hundreds of people at the scene of the deadliest crash in Metro history,' WaPo reports. Fire Sgt. Chris Holmes scoured the wreckage with search dog Cazo. 'The scene was similar to those of other catastrophes Holmes and Cazo have worked: the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, and a school collapse last year in Haiti. "Everything was mangled, the train split apart, you had seats that were everywhere, personal effects on the ground," Holmes said. There were also body parts, but he didn't want to talk about that.' Also WRC-TV, WTTG-TV.

---THE COMMUNICATIONS: Dr. Gridlock Robert Thomson asks why 'Metro did not inform riders of the seriousness of the crash or provide them with direction. Many said they got more accurate information from e-mails, texts and tweets from friends and family.' Text alerts kept referring to 'mechanical difficulties' and 'disruptions.' 'Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein defended the agency, saying Metro got a lot of information out to many riders through its alert systems.' FROM EXAMINER EDITORIAL---'[F]or hours after its deadliest crash ever, Metro kept its riders in the dark about what had happened. Metro has done the same thing for years concerning how it spends its millions of dollars in subsidies from taxpayers....We may not know for another year why Monday's tragedy happened, but what we do know now is that for years Metro has delayed critically important maintenance, even as it spent exorbitantly on grandiose expansion plans and excessive employee benefits.' FROM WAPO READER---'How about "fatal crash" or "tragic accident"? Until Metro officials can summon some candor, what chance is there that they will get to the bottom of what caused this tragedy and protect riders from a recurrence?' ALSO---Did Metro promptly inform the city of the scope of the disaster? Rubin says no.

---THE HILL: Eleanor Holmes Norton wants a congressional hearing on the crash next month. Statement: 'The time to act is overdue. Our work to authorize $1.5 billion for Metro came after compelling testimony that the maintenance problems of the system have fallen into the danger zone. Yesterday compelling testimony became compelling and tragic evidence.' Steny Hoyer, to Examiner, says hold on a minute---the House majority leader 'wants to wait and see whether yesterday's deadly Metro train collision will require any congressional intervention. Hoyer said if investigators determine that a lack of funding resulted in equipment failure or breakdown that contributed to the accident, Congress would get involved.' And The Hill reports that pro-transit groups are using the crash to push federal funds.

---THE LAWSUITS: WaTimes: 'Nobody yet knows who - if anyone - is at fault in the train wreck. But injury lawyers and Metro officials say the lawsuits against the agency are a sure thing. "It is an accepted reality," said Metro Board Chairman Jim Graham. "As a lawyer, I understand how these things work. It is something we are going to see in the future." The litigation likely will come not only from the more than 70 injured and the families of the nine dead in the train pileup, but also from many of the other passengers on the subway cars who were frightened or otherwise traumatized. "It will quite easily be tens of millions of dollars," said Michael I. Krauss, a law professor specializing in torts at George Mason University School of Law.' Also WCP.

---THE COMMUTE: Red Line still out of service between Silver Spring and Brookland, Examiner reports, but virtually all major roads are open, and MARC Brunswick Line service has returnerd, albeit delayed. 'Denise Pincham, of Brandywine, and Denitra Bynum, of Upper Marlboro, opted for the center car Tuesday afternoon. Asked if she would return to the first car one day, Pincham said, "Hell no! I won't sit in the back either!"'

---'THE PRICE OF PARSIMONY': WaPo editor Doug Feaver says in op-ed that 'there are two factors the [NTSB] should specifically address: the parsimony with which all levels of government treat public transit and the silliness of the Washington system not having a dedicated revenue source. Had there been enough money at the right time, Metro could well have replaced or substantially refitted the 30-year-old rail car that ran amok, as the safety board recommended five years ago after another fatal Metro accident....I start with the question of money because it has been Metro's Achilles heel from the beginning.'

---'A BLACK MARK FOR METRO': Harry Jaffe writes, 'We are learning that the crash should not have happened. We are finding out that our public officials let us down....In plain language, federal officials told Metro these trains were barely fit for passengers in 2004. The feds investigated a crash in Shady Grove in 2004 and another brake failure in Woodley Park a year later and issued an "urgent" warning....In our current era of transparency, why didn't we get the "un-crashworthy" memo? As one of the hundreds of thousands of Metro riders who boarded the 1000-series cars, how come I wasn't clued in?'

---WaPo: 'Amid Chaos, 2 Victims Comfort Each Other': '[T]he thing Lanice Beasley kept recalling was the older woman who talked to her even as she was dying beside her on the ground next to the train tracks. The woman told Lanice, "I'm dying, I'm dying," and Lanice, 14, tried to convince her that she wasn't, even though she could see where falling debris had split the woman's chest wide open. Lanice was severely injured herself---her legs cut so deeply that tendons were severed and the flesh peeled back.'

---WaPo editorial board addressed the incident, doesn't say much: 'The NTSB recommended some safety upgrades that Metro didn't carry out. That failure to act may stem less from recalcitrance than from the juggling of priorities forced upon Metro by its inadequate funding. It's important, in any case, not to jump to conclusions; until the safety board finishes what has been promised to be a painstaking investigation, we probably won't know which of these issues, if any, were factors in the accident....The crash's impact extended far past the Takoma and Fort Totten stations to the tens of thousands of people who depend on Metro to get them to jobs, homes and play. And it is for that reason, as well as to keep faith with the victims, that Metro must ensure that---whatever the cause---such an accident never happens again.'

---Courtland Milloy on what it all means: 'We speak of having heavy hearts in the wake of such tragedy, but that is a shared weight, unlike the crushing burden of self-obsession that must be borne alone. Even D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, who has become somewhat arrogant and aloof of late, managed to show glimmers of the empathy that helped get him elected. "If you were someone on the train, that was an unbelievable nightmare," he said, sounding sincere for a change. "It must have been the worst thing in the world." It is ironic that public tragedy seems to bring out the best in us, making us more aware of our profound capacity for sacrifice and compassion.'

---EERIE: 'Monday's tragedy was similar to a crash on Dec. 30, 1906, when a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad engineer missed a stop signal in dense fog at Takoma Park. His train ran into the rear of a train stopped at Terra Cotta station, killing 52 people. It happened very close to the site of Monday's tragedy,' writes WaPo reader.

---John Catoe: 'I truly believe Metro is a safe system.'

###

Is DCPS "scrubbing" gay-themed books from summer reading list? School Library Journal covers the allegations: 'Officials are taking a second look at the list after a post appeared on the American Library Association's GLBT listserve that said, "The DC (District of Columbia) Public Schools decided to scrub their summer reading list of all GLTB related books."...The post was originally made by Jeanne Lauber, a librarian at the DC Public Library on the Yahoo! discussion group "Lezbrian". She goes on the say, "Apparently the public library system told the schools which books were GLTB (not knowing why they were being asked) and the schools removed them."...Sources say that a meeting between the school district and public library took place late last week in the hope that GLBT titles will be included on the lists before printed copies are released to students.'

TREY JOYNER SHOOTING---Following a meeting between Eleanor Holmes Norton and Park Police honchos, Justice Department's civil rights division will investigate Joyner's June 8 shooting in Trinidad. Writes Theola Labbé-DeBose in WaPo: 'The D.C. police have been handling the investigation, but Norton wanted another layer of review. "It was clear to me that this investigation had to be done by the Justice Department, and the civil rights division has done the most work on police shootings," Norton said.'

WaPo's Clarence Williams tells the story of ATF agent Bill Crummett, who, hours after the Holocaust Museum shooting, witnessed a street shooting near Sursum Corda---'leaving Crummett to make a split-second decision: Engage and risk a firefight or call for help.' He chose to wait. '[H]e tailed the men, and eventually the weapons were recovered and one suspect was arrested. It was a trade-off: Innocent bystanders were safe, but a suspect got away....The incident offers a window into the range of options available to law enforcement officers facing potentially deadly circumstances. Crummett decided not to risk the chance of escalating a gun battle at an intersection crowded with commuters and pedestrians. Instead, he called D.C. police, gave them a description of the suspects and began a low-key pursuit until help arrived.'

MUSEUM SHOOTING---James von Brunn is still too infirm to appear in federal court, Del Wilber reports in WaPo: 'At a brief hearing yesterday, federal prosecutor Nicole Waid said doctors indicated that von Brunn might be well enough to attend a court hearing early next week. U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola set a hearing for Tuesday morning.'

Lou Chibbaro Jr. in the Blade on the latest legal wranglings over the gay marriage referendum.

Controversial collapsing Dupont Circle row house will be stabilized by DCRA, Michael Neibauer reports in Examiner. 'The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs will spend $225,000 to ensure the house at 1841 16th St. NW doesn't fall to the ground...The five- to six-week project, the result of negotiations with the property owner, is expected to begin immediately.' Owners Amy Mazur and Dr. Joseph Liberman will have to pay the District back or hire new contractors. Also Biz Journal.

DCRA clerk accused of taking bribes is sentenced in federal court. Ikela M. Dean, 32, will get 27 months in prison for taking a $1,275 bribe, WaPo reports, 'from an FBI undercover agent seeking a temporary permit for a billiard parlor and cigar bar.' ALSO---'Prosecutors said Dean demanded late fees in cash from businesses and nonprofits that were seeking to keep their elevators running. The groups, which included Washington Hospital Center and the Metropolitan Club of Washington, paid the late fees in cash and other invoices by check.'

FINALLY---New H.D. Woodson High School plans are unveiled, and construction will begin on the $98 million facility. Again. A groundbreaking was held a year ago. Reports WaPo, 'Fenty attributed the delay to poor designs.' About the better design: 'The campus, at 55th and Eads streets NE, is to be finished in July 2011 and will have a pool, two gyms and an adolescent wellness center, officials said. The school system plans to offer evening classes through the University of the District of Columbia, Fenty said at the construction site.'

Biz Journal's Jonathan O'Connell, in the wake of revenue projections, looks at vacant property taxes: 'Many investors in D.C. real estate were displeased when the city doubled the vacant property tax last year, but they seem to have hit upon a solution with the city on the new rate: not paying it....Yesterday Natwar Gandhi...asserted that more than 70 percent of the properties he initially billed as vacant have since been let out of the vacant rate by the D.C. Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs. The result is an abysmal collection rate of 16 percent on vacant properties and $37 million in lost tax revenue.'

ALSO---D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute's Ed Lazere reacts to the new numbers: 'With fiscal year 2009 nearly three-fourths over, there are no realistic budget-cutting options. Even if the police and fire departments, libraries and parks were shut down entirely for the next 3 months, we wouldn't save enough. And it is too late to quickly implement tax or fee increases.' He points out that 'nearly all states...typically wait until their budgets return to surplus to replenish their rainy day funds.' The District has two years---even if it's still raining. Ask Congress to ditch the rules, Lazere says.

WaPo: 'More than half of Washington area charities had dangerously low operating reserves even before the recession began, leaving them especially vulnerable to service reductions in a time of sharply declining revenue, according to a new report,' Megan Greenwell writes. 'The reasons that groups lack operating reserves vary, but one major factor is the feeling among nonprofit leaders that they should spend as much as possible on program expenses....Consequently, direct-service organizations, such as soup kitchens and homeless shelters, which often struggle to find money to provide services, are among the least likely to have sufficient operating reserves.'

SCOTUS: Yes, DCPS, you still have to pay for private special-ed placements. Notes the American Prospect, 'Many education reformers will be disgruntled with this decision: In D.C., for example, gadfly Schools Superintendent Michelle Rhee has frequently cited special education costs as a major road block to her planned overhaul of the public schools, which includes a merit pay proposal that would allow teachers to earn as much as $130,000 a year.'

Cheneys---yes, those Cheneys---to donate automatic external defibrillators to District groups. 'The ReStart DC program of the Cheney Cardiovascular Institute at George Washington University already has distributed 50 Philips HeartStart AEDs to local groups where large numbers of people gather, such as houses of worship and senior and community centers. Another 150 are expected to be delivered this year.'

We Love DC looks at the old D.C. streetcar system.

'Mayor Fenty makes D.C. a tri town'

Thanks to Silver Line construction, Dulles Toll Road fees to double in three years.

Folklife Festival starts today.

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---9 a.m.: Committee on Economic Development hearing on B18-205 ("District Land Disposition Amendment Act of 2009") and PR18-316 ("Bellevue Neighborhood Investment Plan Approval Resolution of 2009"), JAWB 500; 11 a.m.: Committee on Economic Development and Committee on Finance and Revenue joint hearing on B18-310 ("New Convention Center Hotel Amendments Act of 2009"), JAWB 500.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---10:30 a.m.: attendee, DPR senior picnic, Takoma Recreation Center, 300 Van Buren St. NW.

The one thing you don't mess around with in a tragedy is the body count. But yesterday morning during a press conference on the metro crash, Mayor Adrian Fenty did just that. Even though Metro and the Fire Department had confirmed that nine passengers had died in the Red Line accident, Fenty overruled those officials and confused everyone. Fenty decided presumably on his own that in fact only seven were confirmed dead.

Shortly after the press conference, the body count rose back to nine.

City Desk tried to figure out the discrepency yesterday. Was it a matter of government sources getting ahead of themselves? Was it simply a matter of confusion at the crash scene? Today, the Washington Post published a story which reveals the source of the mix up: Fenty.

The Post reports:

"The confusion over the number of casualties -- even as Fenty stood with Metro officials at the news conference -- emerged as a particular sore spot. A Metro source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said officials were debating whether they should count those dead people who had not been pulled from the wreckage, and Fenty apparently decided that he should not.

'It indicates that we're not really on top of it if we can't count to nine,' said Tony Bullock, senior vice president of Washington-based Ogilvy Government Relations, who was press secretary to Anthony A. Williams (D) when Williams was mayor.

Fenty said in an interview that he was using 'an abundance of caution' in releasing information and that he might have overdone it. 'Obviously, there's always things that could have been done differently,' he said."

*photo by Darrow Montgomery.

Councilmember Jim Graham, who is chairman of the Metro Board, just called in to report a few things to City Desk regarding yesterday's Metro crash. Graham mentioned that the board's $250,000 relief fund for the Metro crash victims' families. He emphasized that this is not hush money.

"We wanted to have this immediately," Graham explains. "We know there are probably going to be significant legal actions."

Graham says that one of the inspirations for the relief fund came from the circumstances involving one of the victims---Ana Fernandez, who left behind six children. The Examiner notes that she lived in Hyattsville and had resided in the area for the past 10 years. She worked evenings as a part-time housekeeper. Graham says: "We don't know how many more are like that. Those needs came to my attention today....And now there's emergency relief."

Graham says that reps from El Salvador's embassy have reached out to the Fernandez family as has Mayor Adrian M. Fenty.

Graham says the issues with the aging train cars has been a longstanding issue. "We have talked about it repeatedly," he explains. "This is a significant number of cars. Within the next two days, we're going to be talking about more of our options. We also have a regular board meeting [on] Thursday."

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Confirms nine fatalities, the final count. "As a government and as a city" there are only four people whose identities have been confirmed.

Three of the four are residents of the District of Columbia. One lived in Hyattsville. Fenty contacted three of the four families personally. Says can't imagine the "horror and disbelief" of the families.

Fire department has completed its work as the lead agency. Debbie Hersman and the NTSB will now become the lead agency in this matter. Fenty thanks the feds for making all kinds of resources available.

Next up at the mic is D.C. fire Chief Dennis Rubin. He says that fire and EMS and various agencies have done an "absolutely incredible job" of doing their thing. Highlights---timeline begins at 5 pm, had units on location within six minutes. "Obvious this was going to be a major national event." Then they did coordination with inbound agencies. First injury person was transported 21 minutes later; last person was transported 6 hours and 51 minutes later.

Command was transferred at 1 pm. Fifty-one people that fire department treated.

"We've been busy," says Rubin, noting that there've been other fire events over this period.

Rubin, on an editorial comment here, handles himself pretty well in these moments. He has stumbled in a lot of ways since taking over the fire department but does well in front of the press.

Fenty back at the mic, saying that a grand total of eight of the nine fatalities have been identified. Two of them were David F. Wherley, Jr., former commanding general, Joint Force Headquarters, District of Columbia National Guard, and his wife Ann. Fenty said of David F. Wherley: "As fine a public servant, dedicated to the United States of America" as you'll ever find. Military is in "complete shock," says Fenty.

Now it's Metro General Manager John B. Catoe on the spot: He's saying mostly procedural stuff, talking about handing over all information to NTSB and thanking fire department for quick response. Not much here.

Now it's Jim Graham, talking about the 2 pm meeting today. He's saying there'll be another meeting Thursday. First specific action is that there's an amergency hardship relief fund and dedicated $250,000 to the kitty. It's for responding to immediate human needs. Graham says that it's not about a settlement. Will be "refining" this matter in the coming days. Also, statement: We are aggressively seeking to replace the 1000-series rail cars, which were purchased between 1974 and 1978. Also calling on the feds to make good on the commitment of $150 million per year for capital expenditures. Capital needs remain substantial, high hopes that in FY '10 budget the feds keep up funding.

Up now is Debbie Hersman, who has been easily the most interesting and informative speaker at these events. Hersman expresses condolences, sends out prayers to those who remain hospitalized. Nineteen NTSB personnel are on the case trying to determine what caused the accident.

Hersman now going into some thank-you moments for other instrumentalities that have been doing a "great job" and so on. Standard bureaucratic stuff here.

Teams have been out today collecting evidence. Summary of the work here: Track group, working closely with FBI, checking locations of the track, equipment, damage to the equipment. They're seeking an outline of what the crash looked like.

Hersman says the crash occurred on a curve, not a straightaway. It's a one-degree curve. Track speed limited to 59 mph. Feds are working to determine exact point of derailment. Once they're able to move the trains, they may be able to determine exact location of derailment.

Team is working to preserve records and collect perishable evidence. Majority of our team has been out on scene putting information together. Will need time to go through those records. Operation of the train---documentation of some of the control surfaces....now she's talking about stuff that I have no idea about, something about a dial, toggle switch in the on position. All relates to whether it was in automatic mode or manual mode---OK, I get that.

Toggle switch, dial and master controller confirm to NTSB that the train was in automatic mode. Hersman addresses braking issues---emergency mushroom was found in a depressed condition---it was pressed in. The "mushroom" she's talking about here must be the little switchy thing that hits the emergency brake.

Have conducted some interviews and Metro's ops center about the striking train's operator. The original hire date was January of '07. Was hired as a bus driver. She started training as a train operator in January '09 and started driving in March '09.

Hersman is going to be seeking all kinds of documents on the operator's employment history as well as the "72-hour history," to see whether the operator had sufficient rest-work balance. Will be looking for those records. Toxicology samples have been taken on the train operator and have been sent off for analysis.

Standing train---looking to see if there is usable data on the recorders. Pulling apart the married pair of the trains. WMATA is going to bring in a flatbed to pull stuff apart.

Striking train---Train 112---they're looking at the lead car, which sustained extensive damage. Fifty feet of the 75 feet in that car were lost to the accident. That is, two-thirds of the survivable space was gone because of the impact.

Cars and their age: Average age of Metro fleet is 19.3 years old. How compare to other transit operations: Metro ranks 6th among 15 transit agencies in terms of car age. 1000-series cars comprise 300 cars of Metro's 1115-car fleet.

Now she's going into all the other series, and I've totally lost her. 192, 50000, 2 million, whatever. We'll get those details later.

Accident sequence: There was a train at Ft. Totten. Were servicing the platform. The struck train was waiting on the tracks as a result. The striking train---there was a report that there was an announcement that there was a train ahead and then the striking train started again. Looking into that, says Hersman.

Know that the community is anxious to get service back. Track is safe.

Hersman appreciates support from city and other people too. Including Sal Army, which has helped with water and stuff. Also appreciates people in the neighborhood. Look forward to wrapping up this part of the investigation.

Now taking questions:

Question is about trains reported two months past due on brake service.

Hersman has seen reports to that effect and will review records. Interested in looking at those records, but interested in looking at all of those records. Just in first 24 hours of investigation.

Question: What implications of the aging of the fleet has to the rest of the system.

Hersman says agency has no position on that. Will work closely with WMATA if NTSB finds something that is an acute safety problem.

Question: Is the location of the fatalities and whether they were in the striking or struck car.

Hersman says it's premature to comment on that.

Question: NTSB's request for texting records and the like.

Hersman says hard to say. Not really sure exactly what the point is on this question, though Hersman is saying that operators of vehicles and the like should not be texting or talking on cell phones and the like.

Question: Missed it.

Hersman is responding to the question, but I don't know what the question was, so can't really figure out what to type here.

Question: What OCC might have seen displayed about the location and position of the trains in the system.

Hersman says hasn't gotten with her people on this just yet. Says they will provide additional factual information when it's available.

Fenty now back in front, celebrating the accomplishments of the first responders to this calamity. Talks about the "heroic job" of all these responders. Fenty is not so great in situations like this. Nor is he terrible. He just doesn't project the image of a feeling person. A bit robotic. He gets all the information out there, so that's good. He covers all the bases like a good mayor, including crediting the front-line workers and nodding to the feds and other agencies that have assisted.

HOWEVER: When it comes to shifting to a higher civic and emotional gear, Fenty just doesn't have the equipment to go there.

Burgess, on his way to U Street and planning to change trains at Fort Totten, describes climbing over the rubble in the smoke-filled car, seeing sky, losing his shoes, and trying to dislodge a teenager whose leg appeared to be broken. A roommate picked him up in a cab after the crash.

After all of it, Burgess says Metro's still the safest way to get around D.C. "but from now on I'll be sitting in the middle car of the train where, hopefully, this will never happen again."

The Washington Times picked up what may become an emerging angle from the Metro Crash---the tensions between WMATA and the D.C. Fire Department. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin basically called out WMATA for initially downplaying the extent of the crash. The Times writes:

"Fire officials stated bluntly Monday night that Metro's original description of the accident understated its magnitude, and it was only when the first rescuers arrived at the scene that the sort of help needed was finally summoned.

'A little after five o'clock we responded to what was believed to be a small incident,' D.C. Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin said. 'The first arriving company recognized the fact that apparently two trains had collided.' Fire officials eventually sounded three alarms, summoning hundreds of rescuers and implementing their mass- casualty operations."

It's unclear whether rescue work was delayed as a result or whether WMATA or 911 dispatchers made errors in communicating the severity of the crash. "[The Office of Unified Communications] is not under our purview," explains Deputy Fire Chief Kenneth Crosswhite. "We're not responsible for OUC....I would be curious to hear what the first 911 call was reporting."

Fire Department Spokesperson Alan Etter refused to say when the department sounded three alarms and summoned all those rescue workers. "It was an evolving event---resources were called as they were needed," he stated in an e-mail to City Desk. "In other words, nobody jumped up and said---this is a third alarm incident---at the height of involvement we had an equivalent of three alarms on scene---more than 200 personnel--with mutual aid, etc."

The department's own notification records point to such a response. It's unclear whether or not that response was timely.

At 5:23 p.m., the Fire Department issued what may have been its first notification noting the Metro train derailment and that it was "above ground, train involved."

At 5:40 p.m., a second notification came out describing that one train was on top of another. It listed the staging area for emergency personnel at 2nd and Nicholson.

At 5:41 p.m., a third notification was sent out noting that the command center had been established to support the emergency efforts. All off-duty battalion chiefs were to call in placed on standby.

At 5:54 p.m., a fourth notification was sent out announcing that different radio channels had been established for the rescue.

Crosswhite says the scene was not chaotic, adding that the department has two mass casualty units that responded. He is not sure if they were on the scene when he arrived at 5:30 p.m. "I really don't know," he explains. "I seem to think they were already there---I want to say in the staging area."

Crosswhite ended up driving an ambulance.

Rubin responded to the Washington Post's questions on the WMATA issue this afternoon:

"Firefighters on their way to the Metro crash site yesterday they were unaware that there was a horrific fatal collision and thought they were responding to a 'small incident,' D.C. Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin told The Post's Allison Klein.

They initially were dispatched to the two Metro stations -- Takoma Park and Ft. Totten -- before they located the mile marker of the crash. But responders got to the scene within six minutes, Rubin said, and 'performed in an exceptional way.'

'The instant we laid eyes on it, this was declared a major operation,' Rubin said.

At Fenty's press conference just after 5 p.m. today, Rubin says Fire Department responded quickly to disaster.

*photo by Darrow Montgomery.

• Jeanice McMillan, 42, of Springfield (train operator)

• Major General David F. Wherley, Jr., former commanding general, Joint Force Headquarters, District of Columbia National Guard, and his wife Ann, both 62
• Lavonda King, 23
• Dennis Hawkins, 64
• Mary Doolittle, 59
• Anna Fernandez, 40

Per Cherkis, per WTOP, as well, with more on where they lived and one alternate spelling (Lavanda King).

Councilmember Phil Mendelson put out a statement about the Wherleys:

"It is with great sadness that it appears that Retired Commanding General David F. Wherley and his wife, Ann, were two of the casualties in yesterday’s Metrorail accident.  My condolences go out to all the families affected by yesterday’s accident.  But over the years, I was fortunate to work with Major General Wherley, and saw his energy and commitment to the residents of the District of Columbia as well as his country.  A District resident, Major General Wherley will be remembered by the countless lives he has touched, from the District youth he mentored to the soldiers and airmen under his command.  I offer my most sincere condolences to the Major General’s family as well as the men and women of the DC National Guard."

WaPo also interviewed Ann Wherley, a mortgage banker, about living in a Cap Hill loft space in April 2005.

"Red Line: Trains are turning back at Rhode Island Avenue & Silver Spring due to a situation outside of Fort Totten station. Shuttle bus ser"

In other WMATA Twitter news:

Green Line: Trains are sharing the same track between College Park and West Hyattsville due to a track equipment malfunctiion. Expect delays

"The Metro train car that slammed into another on the Red Line yesterday evening was two months past due for scheduled maintenance on its brakes, and the car was an older model that federal officials had recommended be replaced because of concerns about its safety in a crash, officials said today....

According to a Metro source knowledgeable about railcar maintenance, the first car of the striking train was two months behind on a scheduled maintenance for changing out brakes and brake components."

The identities of some of the dead have also been identified. According to WTOP's account:

"Metro has identified them as: 59-year-old Mary Doolittle of Northwest D.C.; 40-year-old Ana Fernandez of Hyattsville; 64-year-old Dennis Hawkins of Southeast D.C.; 23-year-old Lavanda King of Northeast D.C. and 42-year-old Jeanice McMillan of Springfield, Va., the operator of one of the trains involved in the collision.

Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith says four bodies were recovered from the wreckage Monday after the rush-hour crash. Five more were removed Tuesday.

The crash sent 76 people to hospitals. Metro officials said two men and seven women, all adults, were killed."

So how did the Red Line metro crash death toll jump to nine last night then fall back to seven this morning and then back up to nine? Last night, City Desk reported that three news outlets---WUSA9, WTOP, and WJLA---had confirmed that nine had died in the crash. WTOP cited the D.C. Fire Department as its source. WJLA had cited Metro.

This morning, Fenty stated that the number of confirmed dead was actually seven. That number soon increased back up to nine.

At least one fire department official is trying to figure out how and why there was so much confusion. One reporter City Desk contacted speculates that it may have to do with just the gruesomeness of the scene.

Deputy Fire Chief Kenneth Crosswhite says the death toll should not have gone up to nine last night. "I don't know how that number got out there," he says. "I'm very disappointed. We had no idea that there was nine. I called the command post and said, 'Are we at nine?' They said, 'No, we're at six.'... [They said] we have not recovered any more bodies."

Crosswhite is trying figure out who leaked the increased death toll last night. "Maybe you could help me out," he says. "Where should I look? I talked to Metro's PIO and I talked to NTSB, their PIO. I don't know where that number came from. If you find out please let me know so it doesn't happen again."

The Fire Department's own spokesperson, Alan Etter, says he isn't the source for last night's number. "I didn't talk to anyone at all last night," he says. "Nor did I get any new information---they might have talked to someone at the scene."

Dave Statter, the runs the STATter 911 blog and is a reporter with WUSA, says it may have come down to body parts. "My impression is that last night's information which came from sources around 11:20 PM was based on what the camera saw or parts of bodies being seen," Statter says via e-mail. "They had not gotten to those bodies in time for the 8:00AM press conference so the official count was left at 7. After the press conference access was made and five bodies came out bring the official toll to 9."

Councilmember Jim Graham appears to side with Statter for an explanation on the confusing death toll numbers. "I think it has to do with the way the car was crushed," he says. "There was a lot of uncertainty about what was in that crash. That's just pure guess work on my part having been on the scene."

Graham says he plans on asking about the death toll issue at this afternoon's Metro Board hearing on yesterday's crash.

*photo by Darrow Montgomery